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The Butchers
A photograph is hung on a gallery wall for the very first time since it was taken two decades before. It shows a slaughter house in rural Ireland, a painting of the Virgin Mary on the wall, a meat hook suspended from the ceiling - and, from its sharp point, the lifeless body of a man hanging by his feet.
The story of who he is and how he got there casts back into Irish folklore, of widows cursing the land and of the men who slaughter its cattle by hand. But modern Ireland is distrustful of ancient traditions, and as the BSE crisis in England presents get-rich opportunities in Ireland, few care about The Butchers, the eight men who roam the country, slaughtering the cows of those who still have faith in the old ways. Few care, that is, except for Fionn, the husband of a dying woman who still believes; their son Davey, who has fallen in love with the youngest of the Butchers; Gra, the lonely wife of one of the eight; and her 12-year-old daughter, Una, a girl who will grow up to carry a knife like her father, and who will be the one finally to avenge the man in the photograph.
The story of who he is and how he got there casts back into Irish folklore, of widows cursing the land and of the men who slaughter its cattle by hand. But modern Ireland is distrustful of ancient traditions, and as the BSE crisis in England presents get-rich opportunities in Ireland, few care about The Butchers, the eight men who roam the country, slaughtering the cows of those who still have faith in the old ways. Few care, that is, except for Fionn, the husband of a dying woman who still believes; their son Davey, who has fallen in love with the youngest of the Butchers; Gra, the lonely wife of one of the eight; and her 12-year-old daughter, Una, a girl who will grow up to carry a knife like her father, and who will be the one finally to avenge the man in the photograph.
304 pages, Paperback
First published March 26, 2020
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4723 people want to read
About the author
Ruth Gilligan
12 books105 followersRuth Gilligan is an Irish novelist and journalist now living in the UK, where she works as a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Birmingham. She has published 5 novels to date, and was the youngest person ever to reach number one on the Irish bestsellers' list. She contributes regular literary reviews to the Times Literary Supplement, LA Review of Books, Guardian and Irish Independent; she is also an ambassador for the global storytelling charity Narrative 4.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 267 reviews
October 30, 2025
…the way Una thought about it, without folklore and traditions, surely Ireland didn’t really exist? Surely it might just as well be England or France or anywhere else (give or take an endless soak of rain)? So just as there were those who preserved the country’s mother tongue and those who saved up all the country’s native stories, there were those like her father who devoted their lives to maintaining the country’s old beliefs.--------------------------------------
…these days you heard less and less about those ancient superstitions, and all the old tales cast aside for future progress.The story opens in 2018. A photographer is about to have a long sought solo show in New York City. We get a look at the shot that could define his career, of a clothed dead man hanging upside down from hooks that pierce his feet in a small Irish farm building. It is called The Butcher. He took it twenty-two years earlier. Sooooo, what happened? Who is this person, and how did he wind up in such a position? We will return to 2018 in three interludes and a resolution. But the story takes place back around the time this outrage occurred.
Ruth Gilligan - image from The Irish Times
1996. Ireland. A time of change. The old being replaced by the new. The border between Ireland and it’s northern, UK portion, despite both nations being members of the EEU, remains a fraught line. The arrival of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (aka BSE and Mad Cow Disease) in the UK has put Ireland into an enviable position, as Irish cows have not been found to be suffering from this, yet. The result is a boost in demand, great for any in the meat business, and not half bad for the economy overall. But will greed spoil the boon? Some are looking to make even more money by smuggling Northern Irish cows and meat south, and selling them as Irish, endangering the entire Irish meat industry.
The Celtic Tiger boom of the ‘90s into the aughts was in full roar. A backwater economy was becoming one of the wealthier ones in Europe, as Ireland engaged more and more with the world beyond. But there were still remnants of the ancient, the lore and story of the land, and there were still people who were committed to old ways, birthed by legend, but still practiced in the real world.
She explained how a farmer’s wife had lost her entire family a way back in some ancient war, so in her devastation she had placed a curse which dictated certain rules around killing cattle.People called The Believers continue the ancient tradition. The Butchers of the title consist of a group of eight men who travel to farms owned by other Believers, to slaughter their cattle in a prescribed ritual, traveling much of the year to ply their trade.
Henceforth, no man could slaughter alone
Instead, seven others had to be by his side…
And ever since then, Una warned, these rules had to be adhered to or else the widow’s grief would be forgotten and the whole of Ireland would become diseased.
We follow four characters, flicking back and forth between County Cavan and County Monaghan both bordering Northern Ireland. In the first, Una’s father, Cuch, is setting off for his lengthy tour of the nation as one of the team of Butchers, leaving his wife and 12-year-old daughter for eleven months of the year. Una is new to regular school, having been home-schooled until recently. Her family’s old-time religion makes her an oddball, so she endures the sort of social hazing one expects of creatures that age. But she dreams of becoming a Butcher herself, and practices, using trapped mice and lego men.
Gra, 41, is Una’s mother and is plenty tired of having her husband gone for so much of the year, not just for herself, but for the fathering their daughter is missing. She is changing from acceptance of an unsustainable existence to wanting to define her own life, eager to pursue her own interests
Fionn McReady, in County Monaghan, a “small-holder” now, has reduced the size of his farm, is semi-retired, but still keeps some livestock. His wife, Eileen, has been diagnosed with a tumor, and the usual treatments are ineffective. He learns, though, of a new experimental, and thus not covered by insurance, treatment, available in Dublin. But, dear God, the cost. Fionn had engaged in a bit of criminality as a youth, with his father, and now the only way he can hope to cover the expense of treating Eileen is to step back over the line to illegality, with the obvious risks, and not just from the Garda. The fellow he would ultimately be working for is known to have a short temper and zero tolerance for failure. But what other options are there, really, to have a shot at saving his beloved wife?
Davey is Fionn’s disappointment of a son. Not exactly farmer material, Davey is fascinated by classics. The story of the minotaur is far more interesting to him than the livestock out back. He tends to see life through the lens of classic mythology. He is about to take his final exams, which will determine his future, and he is counting on testing well enough to earn a spot in college in Dublin. He is desperate to go. The odds are good.
Davey and Una are both going through coming of age adventures, complete with forms of sexual awakening, finding their strengths, defining their edges and forward directions. Gra is going through her own burst of self-confidence and actualization. Together these reflect the changes in Ireland itself, becoming more involved with the world, for good or ill, expanding their sense of self, trying new things, experimenting, taking chances, becoming more.
Fionn’s journey is less about personal transformation than it is about a willingness to cross the line to fill a need. It is not a big leap to see in this the overreach, the greed and corruption that helped skin The Celtic Tiger, leading Ireland to a major recession.
The central tension of the book is between the old and the new, the old being not just the social norms, but the lore of Ireland, and by inference all societies. Homosexuality, for example, had recently been decriminalized. Legalization of divorce had been approved in a referendum and was soon to be signed into law. How jarring this must be to rural communities that have long been wedded to ancient tradition.
How we define ourselves, as individuals and as a people, a nation, is tied up in the stories we tell about ancestors, our past. Davey’s interest in the classics offers a look at how Greek, and thus western culture, has a rich history, an iconographic lens through which we understand common human experience. He applies Greek mythology to his contemporary Irish life. Gilligan offers a passel of examples of local lore. These are delicious. There is a superstition of lame cows giving the sweetest milk. An old woman down in Carrickmacross…was said to have “The Cure”—the ancient Irish gift for healing. Naming your dog Blackfoot would somehow offer extra protection to your cows. Locals…still believed rowan berries kept you safe from being captured by the fairies.
And if you were thinking of checking the google machine for the historical Butchers, don’t bother. In an interview with The Irish Examiner:
Gilligan admits to having made it all up. “The butchers themselves, as an idea, they are a conglomerate of loads of different kind of traditions and superstitions and myths about cattle that I just found in my research, and I just brought them all together and formed the butchers.” Part of the fun of it, I suppose is that like, it kind of could be real. It’s as real as any other set of the many, many traditions and superstitions that we still hold on to.”The triumph of this book is that Ruth Gilligan has incorporated into a set of coming-of-age stories, that already carry the payload of looking at the changes in Ireland during a period of great upheaval, a wonderful mystery. Who is the dead man hanging by his feet? How did he come to be there? And who is responsible?
The Butchers is a prime, choice cut of a read, a whodunit, who-am-I, what-are-we, where-are-we-going literary feast that is as satisfying as it is delicious. Trust me on this one. I wouldn’t steer you wrong.
There were days Ireland felt modern, and days it felt anything but.
Review first posted – November 27, 2020
Publication dates
----------November 10, 2020 - hardcover
----------November 16, 2021 - trade paperback
I received an ARE of this book from the American publisher, Tin House Books, in return for an honest review and a boneless ribeye roast.
It was published by Atlantic Books across the pond on January 2, 2020, as The Butchers
Thanks also to MC, who did not have a steak in its being reviewed, for pointing me to this. You know who you are.
=============================EXTRA STUFF
Links to the author’s personal, FB, and Twitter pages
Interviews
-----The Irish Times - Ruth Gilligan Q&A: ‘the tension between modern and ancient Ireland fascinates me’
-----Irish Examiner - Ruth Gilligan's new novel timely published during Covid-19 crisis by Eoghan O’Sullivan
-----Narrative 4 - Ruth Gilligan and the Butchers
Songs/Music
-----Eimar Quinn - The Voice - mentioned in Chapter 6 – Ireland’s winning entry in the 1996 Eurovision contest
----- Underworld - Born Slippy
Items of Interest – by the author
-----Gilligan on the sources of her ideas for the novel - 13:34
-----On writing body language - 3:49 – video
-----On writing dialogue - 4:30
-----Short story on Bansheelit - The Night of the Big Wind
Items of Interest
-----Contagion Biopolitics and Cultural Memory - Mad Cows and Eco-Pandemic Irish Literature
-----The Butcher Boy - Gra gives this book to Ronan during the time she is helping him with his photo project
November 1, 2020
How far back in the past should a novel take us for it to be considered “historical fiction”? Ruth Gilligan’s The Butchers is set in the rural borderlands of Ireland in 1996, at a time when a widespread outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as “mad cow disease”, was threatening to scupper the British, and then, eventually, the Irish beef industry. That was less than three decades ago, and yet it already seems a different era, one which Gilligan accurately and authentically evokes through contemporary references: Euro 1996 football games were showing on TV, the Spice Girls were assailing the charts, recent legislative enactments had decriminalized homosexuality and just introduced divorce.
The Butchers is grounded in the reality of living in Ireland in the 90s, but, strikingly, it is also built on a supernatural or mythological premise referring to a curse supposedly lain on Ireland by a “farmer’s widow” of olden times:
... since the war had claimed all eight of her men She decreed, henceforth, no man could slaughter alon; Instead, seven others had to be by his side to stop the memory of her grief from dying too...
According to the ancient Irish custom, there had to be eight men present at every cattle slaughter; eight different hands touching the animal’s hide as it passed from this life to the next. So now eight Butchers spent eleven months of the year calling on the few families around the country who still believed, and killing their beasts in the traditional, curse-abiding way...
The novel revolves around a number of characters who are, in some way or another, connected to the Butchers or their beliefs. There’s Grá, the long-suffering wife of one of the Eight, and her twelve-year old daughter Úna; there’s Fionn, a small-time farmer with demons in his past and a wife with a debilitating tumour; there’s Fionn’s teenage son Davey, who has heard of the Butchers from his mother and wants her to meet them to satisfy her dying wish.
In the brave new world of 1996 Ireland, the Butchers seem increasingly out of place and, as the BSE crisis escalates they are also viewed with suspicion by the non-believers. So when one of the Eight is found dead in a slaughterhouse, hanging by his feet on a meat hook suspended from the ceiling, the Butchers feel it is time for them to quit. Úna’s dreams of following in her father’s footsteps seem shattered… Or perhaps not. Twenty-two years after these calamitous events, a photograph appears on a New York gallery wall showing the Butcher’s hanging body. How has it ended up there and what fresh light will it shed on this “cold case”? It will be up to Úna to solve the mystery and avenge the man’s death.
The Butchers is, first and foremost, a great story, brilliantly told. It is tautly plotted, revealing its secrets in unexpected twists. The frequent changes in points of view introduce variety and keep up the momentum. It’s been some time since I read such a page turner.
But this is just one aspect of this book. It is, in fact, a novel of many parts, combining as it does a generally realistic storyline with elements of supernatural and crime fiction. Davey’s studies of classical mythology also serve as an excuse to introduce a symbolical subtext where references to myths reflect certain plot elements (to be honest, I found this to be rather heavy-handed and the least appealing ingredient in the book)
However, if I were pressed to pigeon-hole this genre-bending book, I would say it strikes me as primarily a coming-of-age novel. We see Úna growing up as a rebel against the patriarchal expectations of society; Davey coming to terms with his identity and sexuality; their parents questioning the choices they made when they were their children’s age. Equally importantly, this is a novel about the coming of age of a nation: contemporary Ireland. Gilligan’s portrayal of this rapidly changing country is deliciously ambivalent. Whilst on the one hand new civil rights were being introduced, and this is positively portrayed in the novel, the country was also being overwhelmed by a capitalist culture where money ruled, connections between politics and business were the order of the day and traditions were being forgotten.
Several recent novels have used folklore and the otherworldly to address present-day themes. This might explain, for instance, why witches have become such a potent and frequent feminist symbol in contemporary fiction. With its nods to the supernatural, The Butchers could be seen as the latest addition to this phenomenon – but it certainly stands out both in ideas and in their execution.
https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/20...
The Butchers is grounded in the reality of living in Ireland in the 90s, but, strikingly, it is also built on a supernatural or mythological premise referring to a curse supposedly lain on Ireland by a “farmer’s widow” of olden times:
... since the war had claimed all eight of her men She decreed, henceforth, no man could slaughter alon; Instead, seven others had to be by his side to stop the memory of her grief from dying too...
According to the ancient Irish custom, there had to be eight men present at every cattle slaughter; eight different hands touching the animal’s hide as it passed from this life to the next. So now eight Butchers spent eleven months of the year calling on the few families around the country who still believed, and killing their beasts in the traditional, curse-abiding way...
The novel revolves around a number of characters who are, in some way or another, connected to the Butchers or their beliefs. There’s Grá, the long-suffering wife of one of the Eight, and her twelve-year old daughter Úna; there’s Fionn, a small-time farmer with demons in his past and a wife with a debilitating tumour; there’s Fionn’s teenage son Davey, who has heard of the Butchers from his mother and wants her to meet them to satisfy her dying wish.
In the brave new world of 1996 Ireland, the Butchers seem increasingly out of place and, as the BSE crisis escalates they are also viewed with suspicion by the non-believers. So when one of the Eight is found dead in a slaughterhouse, hanging by his feet on a meat hook suspended from the ceiling, the Butchers feel it is time for them to quit. Úna’s dreams of following in her father’s footsteps seem shattered… Or perhaps not. Twenty-two years after these calamitous events, a photograph appears on a New York gallery wall showing the Butcher’s hanging body. How has it ended up there and what fresh light will it shed on this “cold case”? It will be up to Úna to solve the mystery and avenge the man’s death.
The Butchers is, first and foremost, a great story, brilliantly told. It is tautly plotted, revealing its secrets in unexpected twists. The frequent changes in points of view introduce variety and keep up the momentum. It’s been some time since I read such a page turner.
But this is just one aspect of this book. It is, in fact, a novel of many parts, combining as it does a generally realistic storyline with elements of supernatural and crime fiction. Davey’s studies of classical mythology also serve as an excuse to introduce a symbolical subtext where references to myths reflect certain plot elements (to be honest, I found this to be rather heavy-handed and the least appealing ingredient in the book)
However, if I were pressed to pigeon-hole this genre-bending book, I would say it strikes me as primarily a coming-of-age novel. We see Úna growing up as a rebel against the patriarchal expectations of society; Davey coming to terms with his identity and sexuality; their parents questioning the choices they made when they were their children’s age. Equally importantly, this is a novel about the coming of age of a nation: contemporary Ireland. Gilligan’s portrayal of this rapidly changing country is deliciously ambivalent. Whilst on the one hand new civil rights were being introduced, and this is positively portrayed in the novel, the country was also being overwhelmed by a capitalist culture where money ruled, connections between politics and business were the order of the day and traditions were being forgotten.
Several recent novels have used folklore and the otherworldly to address present-day themes. This might explain, for instance, why witches have become such a potent and frequent feminist symbol in contemporary fiction. With its nods to the supernatural, The Butchers could be seen as the latest addition to this phenomenon – but it certainly stands out both in ideas and in their execution.
https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/20...
July 9, 2020
So probably 4 stars to the midpoint and then 5 for there on in
Ruth Gilligan tells an intreating tale of rural Ireland in 1996. Set during the BSE/CJD (Mad Cow) crisis, its a story of family, traditions that pull us all together, and the things that tear us apart.
Based upon a presumably fictional piece of folklore. Can folklore be called fictional? Well, I have never heard it before anyway so I assume this is Ruth’s fiction. In this version of 1996, there exists a set of pagan believers that believe in a widow's curse that all cattle should be killed in a ritualistic manner and by hand in the presence of eight men. These men are simply called the Butchers. During the BSE crisis of 1996, the Butchers were disbanded thus ending hundreds of years of traditions and beliefs. Twenty years later in 2018, there is a photograph of a dead Butcher hung like a slab of beef - so what happened? Who died and why?
We hear the story from the opinions of Uná, Grá, Fionn, and Davey all of which have some connection to the Butchers and all of which have their own path of self-discovery to make. The characters deal with issues of guilt, loneliness, faith, gender, sexuality, mortality, and human connections in a society that does not yet have the vocabulary to deal with them never mind the willingness to confront them. Instead, they live in a world of greed, corruption, and Cattle Kings, where discussion in the Pub revolves around the current price of beef and the latest border raid for beef.
On a personal note (as ultimately all literature is reflected through its reader) I particularly enjoyed the reference to the pagan traditions practiced by the Catholics throughout the novel and the confusion over what was catholic and what was pagan (St Brigid being the same person as the Goddess Brigid for example). The McDonalds arriving into town reminded me of meeting somebody from Monaghan in 1996 and her explaining that Monaghan now has a McDonalds in her introduction.
Oh, and of course there is the ending. Without meaning too I understood what was happening two thirds through and the buildup to the ending is going to push a lot of readers to continue reading to the wee hours. It doesn’t disappoint.
This book is recommended to people who love mystery, rural Irish settings, characterisations, Irish folklore and traditions, and the 1990’s nostalgia. People who are worried about the gore implied by the title should know there is no explicit violence. The rituals are explained pre and post-slaughter but the event itself is merely implied. Though sometimes that can be worse.
Ruth Gilligan tells an intreating tale of rural Ireland in 1996. Set during the BSE/CJD (Mad Cow) crisis, its a story of family, traditions that pull us all together, and the things that tear us apart.
Based upon a presumably fictional piece of folklore. Can folklore be called fictional? Well, I have never heard it before anyway so I assume this is Ruth’s fiction. In this version of 1996, there exists a set of pagan believers that believe in a widow's curse that all cattle should be killed in a ritualistic manner and by hand in the presence of eight men. These men are simply called the Butchers. During the BSE crisis of 1996, the Butchers were disbanded thus ending hundreds of years of traditions and beliefs. Twenty years later in 2018, there is a photograph of a dead Butcher hung like a slab of beef - so what happened? Who died and why?
We hear the story from the opinions of Uná, Grá, Fionn, and Davey all of which have some connection to the Butchers and all of which have their own path of self-discovery to make. The characters deal with issues of guilt, loneliness, faith, gender, sexuality, mortality, and human connections in a society that does not yet have the vocabulary to deal with them never mind the willingness to confront them. Instead, they live in a world of greed, corruption, and Cattle Kings, where discussion in the Pub revolves around the current price of beef and the latest border raid for beef.
On a personal note (as ultimately all literature is reflected through its reader) I particularly enjoyed the reference to the pagan traditions practiced by the Catholics throughout the novel and the confusion over what was catholic and what was pagan (St Brigid being the same person as the Goddess Brigid for example). The McDonalds arriving into town reminded me of meeting somebody from Monaghan in 1996 and her explaining that Monaghan now has a McDonalds in her introduction.
Oh, and of course there is the ending. Without meaning too I understood what was happening two thirds through and the buildup to the ending is going to push a lot of readers to continue reading to the wee hours. It doesn’t disappoint.
This book is recommended to people who love mystery, rural Irish settings, characterisations, Irish folklore and traditions, and the 1990’s nostalgia. People who are worried about the gore implied by the title should know there is no explicit violence. The rituals are explained pre and post-slaughter but the event itself is merely implied. Though sometimes that can be worse.
November 28, 2020
I'm still thinking about this book a month after I read it. Strange and unsettling, but so haunting.
December 3, 2020
Set in 1990s Ireland, The Butchers' Blessing (originally published as The Butchers in the UK) tells the story of a group that travels through the country, practicing an ancient ritual of cattle slaughter for farmers who still believe in the old customs. It follows a handful of characters - primarily Úna, the preteen daughter of a Butcher whose life's aspiration is to follow in her father's footsteps. We also follow Grá, Úna's mother, trapped in an unhappy marriage; Ronan, an ambitious photographer; Fionn, a semi-retired farmer whose wife is dying of cancer, trying to atone for past sins; and Davey, Fionn's son, a teenage boy who's immersed in classical studies and dreams of escaping to Dublin.
Gilligan does an expert job of weaving historical context throughout the narrative. The novel's backdrop mainly concerns BSE, also known as mad cow disease, as the crisis kicks off throughout the UK and Ireland. While Gilligan excellently captures the resulting tension of that social climate, her skill in establishing the setting is right down to the nitty-gritty details; the Spice Girls playing on the radio, The Beauty Queen of Leenane on a the local playhouse, Ballykissangel on tv. Setting historical fiction in a moment that your readers have lived through is a unique challenge, but Gilligan has a talent for the immersive. The details of Celtic folklore were also well-woven in; this probably isn't the Gothic or eerie book you're expecting from its premise, but the way the folklore was presented as a part of these characters' daily realities was handled incredibly well.
There were a few things that didn't work for me - the whole story was framed in a past/present way with the present being narrated by the least interesting character, which unfortunately causes the interludes to lag more than they should. But on the whole I thought this was a clear-eyed, unsettling, morally ambiguous read that captures this moment in modern Irish history brilliantly.
Gilligan does an expert job of weaving historical context throughout the narrative. The novel's backdrop mainly concerns BSE, also known as mad cow disease, as the crisis kicks off throughout the UK and Ireland. While Gilligan excellently captures the resulting tension of that social climate, her skill in establishing the setting is right down to the nitty-gritty details; the Spice Girls playing on the radio, The Beauty Queen of Leenane on a the local playhouse, Ballykissangel on tv. Setting historical fiction in a moment that your readers have lived through is a unique challenge, but Gilligan has a talent for the immersive. The details of Celtic folklore were also well-woven in; this probably isn't the Gothic or eerie book you're expecting from its premise, but the way the folklore was presented as a part of these characters' daily realities was handled incredibly well.
There were a few things that didn't work for me - the whole story was framed in a past/present way with the present being narrated by the least interesting character, which unfortunately causes the interludes to lag more than they should. But on the whole I thought this was a clear-eyed, unsettling, morally ambiguous read that captures this moment in modern Irish history brilliantly.
July 12, 2020
As a voracious reader, I know that books can take me anywhere – from wizardry schools to the ballrooms of Europe, from ancient lands to mysterious worlds in the future.
But in the Butcher’s Blessing, Ruth Gilligan takes me to a place I’ve never been: to the cattle slaughter fields in Ireland in the company of eight fabled men. So believable were these men that I was sure the book was inspired by real factual events. It is—in a way. But the magic of this novel is that it captures the heart and soul of Ireland—the lyricism, the mythology, the complicated reality—and presents them in a compelling new way.
The launching point is the ban on British beef, put in place by the European Union in the mid 1990s, to prevent customers from the burgeoning BSE crisis, better known as mad cow disease. At the heart of the novel is the never-ending clash between folklore and superstition versus profit-driving modern farming.
The Butchers represent the old ways: the adherence to preventing the fulfillment of an ancient curse. According to lore, if eight men do not touch each cow in Ireland before its death, the land will be plagued by pestilence. Cuch is one of the butchers, leaving for 1996’s sojourn and leaving behind a loving wife Gra and his daughter Una, who longs to be the first female butcher. In a parallel story, Fionn—a nonbeliever of the world of the Butchers—and his son Davey are driven by other needs and desires. And in the midst of all this is a talented young photographer, Ronan, who is intent on capturing the story.
And what a story it is! Early on, we learn that one of the eight Butchers is found hanging upside down, suspended by rusty hooks in his feet, not unlike how the cattle are dispensed with. A message or a ritual? This book encompasses it all: from the sheer brutality of cattle killing to the mystical rites and ancient, unorthodox rituals of the dwindling believers…from families at the cusp of crisis to the connections that sustain us.
I was totally riveted from beginning to the end. Ruth Gilligan reveals how powerful storytelling can create alternative worlds that seem just as real as the one we now inhabit. A big thanks to Tin House publishers for giving me early entry to this world in exchange for a decidedly honest review.
But in the Butcher’s Blessing, Ruth Gilligan takes me to a place I’ve never been: to the cattle slaughter fields in Ireland in the company of eight fabled men. So believable were these men that I was sure the book was inspired by real factual events. It is—in a way. But the magic of this novel is that it captures the heart and soul of Ireland—the lyricism, the mythology, the complicated reality—and presents them in a compelling new way.
The launching point is the ban on British beef, put in place by the European Union in the mid 1990s, to prevent customers from the burgeoning BSE crisis, better known as mad cow disease. At the heart of the novel is the never-ending clash between folklore and superstition versus profit-driving modern farming.
The Butchers represent the old ways: the adherence to preventing the fulfillment of an ancient curse. According to lore, if eight men do not touch each cow in Ireland before its death, the land will be plagued by pestilence. Cuch is one of the butchers, leaving for 1996’s sojourn and leaving behind a loving wife Gra and his daughter Una, who longs to be the first female butcher. In a parallel story, Fionn—a nonbeliever of the world of the Butchers—and his son Davey are driven by other needs and desires. And in the midst of all this is a talented young photographer, Ronan, who is intent on capturing the story.
And what a story it is! Early on, we learn that one of the eight Butchers is found hanging upside down, suspended by rusty hooks in his feet, not unlike how the cattle are dispensed with. A message or a ritual? This book encompasses it all: from the sheer brutality of cattle killing to the mystical rites and ancient, unorthodox rituals of the dwindling believers…from families at the cusp of crisis to the connections that sustain us.
I was totally riveted from beginning to the end. Ruth Gilligan reveals how powerful storytelling can create alternative worlds that seem just as real as the one we now inhabit. A big thanks to Tin House publishers for giving me early entry to this world in exchange for a decidedly honest review.
June 29, 2023
A strange cocktail of real history and invented myth, set along the Irish borderlands in 1996.
A group of eight men roam Ireland enacting an ancient tradition of slaughtering cattle by hand. The rest of society looks down on them while eating their McDonalds burgers, but then along comes Mad Cow Disease. As British beef is declared unsafe to eat, the fortunes of the Irish beef industry rise – but so too do smuggling rings bringing Northern Irish cows over the border.
I found the premise very promising but the book itself frustrating and tedious.
The fact that the central mythology is an invention of the author was… challenging for me. It seemed pointless to write about the contrast of myth and history and then invent your myth. It also made me mistrustful of her history, although she does seem to have done her research there (and gets pretty didactic in places).
I’m also not sure why, when you’ve got a premise involving butchery, smuggling and a plague, you’d want to focus all your time on the clichéd storylines of “girl wants to do boy things,” “woman is falling out of love with her husband” and “boy realizes he’s gay.”
But mostly I disliked the writing, which was full of sections ending with twee “made you think!” kind of moments.
“You could be born one way and then you could be changed.”
“But how could she tell him that what we believe and what we assume and what we know are never really the same.”
Or my personal non-favourite: “As she hurried past a giant poster in Irish -- Lá Fhéile Bríde -- she also wondered, since there were mother tongues, did that mean that there were father tongues too? And if so, which was easier for an almost-teenage daughter to learn?” (Thought no almost-teenage daughter ever).
Of the ending, the less said the better.
A group of eight men roam Ireland enacting an ancient tradition of slaughtering cattle by hand. The rest of society looks down on them while eating their McDonalds burgers, but then along comes Mad Cow Disease. As British beef is declared unsafe to eat, the fortunes of the Irish beef industry rise – but so too do smuggling rings bringing Northern Irish cows over the border.
I found the premise very promising but the book itself frustrating and tedious.
The fact that the central mythology is an invention of the author was… challenging for me. It seemed pointless to write about the contrast of myth and history and then invent your myth. It also made me mistrustful of her history, although she does seem to have done her research there (and gets pretty didactic in places).
I’m also not sure why, when you’ve got a premise involving butchery, smuggling and a plague, you’d want to focus all your time on the clichéd storylines of “girl wants to do boy things,” “woman is falling out of love with her husband” and “boy realizes he’s gay.”
But mostly I disliked the writing, which was full of sections ending with twee “made you think!” kind of moments.
“You could be born one way and then you could be changed.”
“But how could she tell him that what we believe and what we assume and what we know are never really the same.”
Or my personal non-favourite: “As she hurried past a giant poster in Irish -- Lá Fhéile Bríde -- she also wondered, since there were mother tongues, did that mean that there were father tongues too? And if so, which was easier for an almost-teenage daughter to learn?” (Thought no almost-teenage daughter ever).
Of the ending, the less said the better.
August 11, 2020
In this adult, dark and fractured fairy tale—-fable, folklore, legend-—a group of historic myth believers called Butchers travel around their native Republic of Ireland, particularly in the borderlands, and perform the requisite ritual before slaughtering cattle, based on an ancient curse of the Farmer’s Widow. It takes eight people—and it has always been men—to physically work together to do this. The story takes us inside the old Ireland Butchers and their modern rivals, with a kaleidoscope of varied perceptions that cause fiery friction. “In this country,…cattle are politics.”
The Butchers number approximately 500 across the country, and are itinerant eleven months of the year. Some are married and leave wives and children behind to fend for themselves while they are off performing their rituals. During the Mad Cow disease pandemic in Northern England, some petty smugglers try to take advantage of the British beef ban—as the Celts are now having a boom. The story surrounds two families. We get to know the individual men, their wives, and their children via alternating chapters.
The nonlinear story takes place largely from 1996 to 2018. The topics of cults, folklore, rituals, feminism, family, bullying, borders, loss, art, change, country, allegiance, loyalty, and pride are well delineated and bolster the eerie story. There are those in Ireland who scornfully think the Butchers are primitive and lost in the past. Over the years, rumors and gossip and wild stories about Butchers are spread from fear and prejudice.
And that is sufficient information for the reader before heading into the unknown. And, before you Wiki it--it doesn’t exist in our world, only in the writer’s piquant imagination. And this tale is original, offbeat, and consuming. At the outset, the author’s aim to get the reader familiar with the background of the story came off inelegant and too on the nose. This led to an uneven tempo and I sensed that the atmosphere was told rather than felt. However, the meat and bones of the story emerged as a startling surprise, and the last page or two was smashing and resounding. The characters were inevitably finely drawn, the finale unforgettable.
“…without folklore and traditions, surely Ireland didn’t really exist? Surely it might as well just be England or France or anywhere else…? So just as there were those who saved up all the country’s native stories, there were those…who devoted their lives to maintaining the country’s old beliefs.”
4.5 rolled up to 5 stars.
Thank you to the publisher’s f Tin House for sending me a copy in return for an honest review.
The Butchers number approximately 500 across the country, and are itinerant eleven months of the year. Some are married and leave wives and children behind to fend for themselves while they are off performing their rituals. During the Mad Cow disease pandemic in Northern England, some petty smugglers try to take advantage of the British beef ban—as the Celts are now having a boom. The story surrounds two families. We get to know the individual men, their wives, and their children via alternating chapters.
The nonlinear story takes place largely from 1996 to 2018. The topics of cults, folklore, rituals, feminism, family, bullying, borders, loss, art, change, country, allegiance, loyalty, and pride are well delineated and bolster the eerie story. There are those in Ireland who scornfully think the Butchers are primitive and lost in the past. Over the years, rumors and gossip and wild stories about Butchers are spread from fear and prejudice.
And that is sufficient information for the reader before heading into the unknown. And, before you Wiki it--it doesn’t exist in our world, only in the writer’s piquant imagination. And this tale is original, offbeat, and consuming. At the outset, the author’s aim to get the reader familiar with the background of the story came off inelegant and too on the nose. This led to an uneven tempo and I sensed that the atmosphere was told rather than felt. However, the meat and bones of the story emerged as a startling surprise, and the last page or two was smashing and resounding. The characters were inevitably finely drawn, the finale unforgettable.
“…without folklore and traditions, surely Ireland didn’t really exist? Surely it might as well just be England or France or anywhere else…? So just as there were those who saved up all the country’s native stories, there were those…who devoted their lives to maintaining the country’s old beliefs.”
4.5 rolled up to 5 stars.
Thank you to the publisher’s f Tin House for sending me a copy in return for an honest review.
June 5, 2021
Winner of the RSL Ondaatje prize, I had high hopes for this literary thriller/drama. I liked it but didn’t love it.
The book is set in rural Ireland (border counties) at the time of the BSE crisis in 1996. The basic premise is that there exists a (fictitious) group of eight men colloquially known as The Butchers, who travel the length and breadth of Ireland ritualistically slaughtering cattle for farmers who believe in an ancient myth that requires eight men to be present at the death of a cow. Belief in the myth is dwindling as Ireland of the 1990s moves into the modern age.
The story moves primarily between four main characters in the summer of 1996, pre-teen Una, her mother Grá, teenager Davey and his father Fionn. As the plot unfolds, we begin to understand what brings these characters together.
There are interludes set in 2018 between chapters where we are told of the death of one of the Butchers and we are given hints as to what happened but the reveal doesn’t come until the very end.
I liked the non linear narrative, I enjoyed the interludes, and I thought the book got off to a fantastic start with Una’s first chapter. Unfortunately, my interest in the story waned about 100 pages in. I turned 16 in 1996, but the Ireland described felt like another country to me (Euro ‘96 and Spice Girls references notwithstanding). I found the tv/radio updates clunky.
We never really get to the heart of what the Butchers actually did, or why their beliefs were so anathema to everyone else, in circumstances where their belief system seemed to revolve purely around the manner in which they killed cattle. We don’t get to hear the perspective of a Butcher (a trick missed?) so it’s never clear. The last page was very odd and out of place stylistically I thought.
The author also employed a style throughout the book where she repeated bits of dialogue moments later as the narrator thought about it, in italics. It just lacked subtlety for me and began to grate after a while.
Una and Davey were both really well written characters and I think that is where this writer really excels. This would work well as YA novel. The coming of age theme and exploration of sexuality were the most interesting parts of the book I thought. The thriller element of it just didn’t really work for me. 3/5 ⭐️
The book is set in rural Ireland (border counties) at the time of the BSE crisis in 1996. The basic premise is that there exists a (fictitious) group of eight men colloquially known as The Butchers, who travel the length and breadth of Ireland ritualistically slaughtering cattle for farmers who believe in an ancient myth that requires eight men to be present at the death of a cow. Belief in the myth is dwindling as Ireland of the 1990s moves into the modern age.
The story moves primarily between four main characters in the summer of 1996, pre-teen Una, her mother Grá, teenager Davey and his father Fionn. As the plot unfolds, we begin to understand what brings these characters together.
There are interludes set in 2018 between chapters where we are told of the death of one of the Butchers and we are given hints as to what happened but the reveal doesn’t come until the very end.
I liked the non linear narrative, I enjoyed the interludes, and I thought the book got off to a fantastic start with Una’s first chapter. Unfortunately, my interest in the story waned about 100 pages in. I turned 16 in 1996, but the Ireland described felt like another country to me (Euro ‘96 and Spice Girls references notwithstanding). I found the tv/radio updates clunky.
We never really get to the heart of what the Butchers actually did, or why their beliefs were so anathema to everyone else, in circumstances where their belief system seemed to revolve purely around the manner in which they killed cattle. We don’t get to hear the perspective of a Butcher (a trick missed?) so it’s never clear. The last page was very odd and out of place stylistically I thought.
The author also employed a style throughout the book where she repeated bits of dialogue moments later as the narrator thought about it, in italics. It just lacked subtlety for me and began to grate after a while.
Una and Davey were both really well written characters and I think that is where this writer really excels. This would work well as YA novel. The coming of age theme and exploration of sexuality were the most interesting parts of the book I thought. The thriller element of it just didn’t really work for me. 3/5 ⭐️
January 31, 2023
Not my normal genres - a mash-up of literary fiction and mystery, with some history tossed in there.
The main story takes place in the borderlands of Ireland during the late 90's. BSE (Mad Cow disease) has devastated the British beef market and in Ireland livestock farmers are hoping to cash in. In the background of this are The Butcher's.
Built on a supernatural or mythological premise referring to a curse supposedly lain on Ireland by a “farmer’s widow” of olden times:
... since the war had claimed all eight of her men She decreed, henceforth, no man could slaughter alone; Instead, seven others had to be by his side to stop the memory of her grief from dying too...
According to the ancient Irish custom, there had to be eight men present at every cattle slaughter; eight different hands touching the animal’s hide as it passed from this life to the next. So now eight Butchers spent eleven months of the year calling on the few families around the country who still believed, and killing their beasts in the traditional, curse-abiding way..
We follow the lives of 2 families, one a believer of the myth, one that let go of those beliefs a long time ago. Although not a true duel-timeline (thank goodness, as I am so tired of them), the story includes the insight of a young photographer who followed the butcher's and years later is displaying those photos in a New York Gallery.
The writing is excellent, although the story confused me at times. However, I now believe the author wanted me confused, at least a little. I never knew the answer to the mystery until the final pages, but like all literary fiction for me-the ending left me hanging a bit.
This book won The Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize in 2021, it surprises me not more people have read it. I can recommend this to Mystery and Literary readers. Ha, me recommending an LF book-one of the few that I have read, and it will stay with me for a while.
The main story takes place in the borderlands of Ireland during the late 90's. BSE (Mad Cow disease) has devastated the British beef market and in Ireland livestock farmers are hoping to cash in. In the background of this are The Butcher's.
Built on a supernatural or mythological premise referring to a curse supposedly lain on Ireland by a “farmer’s widow” of olden times:
... since the war had claimed all eight of her men She decreed, henceforth, no man could slaughter alone; Instead, seven others had to be by his side to stop the memory of her grief from dying too...
According to the ancient Irish custom, there had to be eight men present at every cattle slaughter; eight different hands touching the animal’s hide as it passed from this life to the next. So now eight Butchers spent eleven months of the year calling on the few families around the country who still believed, and killing their beasts in the traditional, curse-abiding way..
We follow the lives of 2 families, one a believer of the myth, one that let go of those beliefs a long time ago. Although not a true duel-timeline (thank goodness, as I am so tired of them), the story includes the insight of a young photographer who followed the butcher's and years later is displaying those photos in a New York Gallery.
The writing is excellent, although the story confused me at times. However, I now believe the author wanted me confused, at least a little. I never knew the answer to the mystery until the final pages, but like all literary fiction for me-the ending left me hanging a bit.
This book won The Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize in 2021, it surprises me not more people have read it. I can recommend this to Mystery and Literary readers. Ha, me recommending an LF book-one of the few that I have read, and it will stay with me for a while.
November 30, 2020
A widow's grief after losing her 7 sons and husband in a war, led to the curse: no cattle can be slaughtered without 8 men present and touching the cow at the time. Enter the butchers - a squad of men that go around Ireland, leaving their families behind to slaughter for people that believe in the old traditions.
First off - I made the mistake of thinking this is historical fiction - and it is definitely more literary fiction and coming of age than historically true, as the curse and butchers are fictional.
I was 100% on board with this as fiction set in 1990s Ireland, until the last page, which made me re evaluate the whole entire book. I can't say why it threw me without spoilers, but it was so out of character. Was the character in question was a bit of a sociopath, who envisioned killing foxes and mice? What did I miss? What happened next? Gosh. I also wasn't following some of the things that happened in the last few chapters, the finality didn't make sense. Then I learned that, while the myth of The Widow's Curse and The Butchers is an excellent premise and story, it actually wasn't real, and I'm pretty sure that most of the book was more fiction than historical. I was at 5 stars until i finished the book and dropped to 3.5
Set in a time of Irish cultural change, The Butchers' Blessing is a meditation in faith, growing up, growing apart, and changing culture. My brain had it pegged as historical fiction but its just stereotypical of Irish legends, in a more modern setting. Regardless, this is a great story (minus the last page).
The chapters bounced between Gra, Una, Davey, and Fionn, four characters at different life stages. Una is probably the main character and has to cope with growing up while her dad is off slaughtering 11 months out of the year, targeted by her classmates, and wanting to follow in her dads footsteps. Davey is learning who he is before he heads off to college. Gra and Fionn both are dealing with growing apart from their kids, difficult parenting, and various senses of desperation and loss.
Times are changing in Ireland though and each character has to "keep with the times." For a meditation on growth, self discovery, a bit of corpse defamation and mystery, Irish legend, beautiful writing, and a whole lot of growing pains, this is an excellent read for anyone I would say 14+
First off - I made the mistake of thinking this is historical fiction - and it is definitely more literary fiction and coming of age than historically true, as the curse and butchers are fictional.
I was 100% on board with this as fiction set in 1990s Ireland, until the last page, which made me re evaluate the whole entire book. I can't say why it threw me without spoilers, but it was so out of character. Was the character in question was a bit of a sociopath, who envisioned killing foxes and mice? What did I miss? What happened next? Gosh. I also wasn't following some of the things that happened in the last few chapters, the finality didn't make sense. Then I learned that, while the myth of The Widow's Curse and The Butchers is an excellent premise and story, it actually wasn't real, and I'm pretty sure that most of the book was more fiction than historical. I was at 5 stars until i finished the book and dropped to 3.5
Set in a time of Irish cultural change, The Butchers' Blessing is a meditation in faith, growing up, growing apart, and changing culture. My brain had it pegged as historical fiction but its just stereotypical of Irish legends, in a more modern setting. Regardless, this is a great story (minus the last page).
The chapters bounced between Gra, Una, Davey, and Fionn, four characters at different life stages. Una is probably the main character and has to cope with growing up while her dad is off slaughtering 11 months out of the year, targeted by her classmates, and wanting to follow in her dads footsteps. Davey is learning who he is before he heads off to college. Gra and Fionn both are dealing with growing apart from their kids, difficult parenting, and various senses of desperation and loss.
Times are changing in Ireland though and each character has to "keep with the times." For a meditation on growth, self discovery, a bit of corpse defamation and mystery, Irish legend, beautiful writing, and a whole lot of growing pains, this is an excellent read for anyone I would say 14+
November 21, 2020
The Butchers have been on my mind quite a lot recently.
I have the strangest urge to see them one last time
It is 1996 and Ireland is rapidly modernizing but Úna, twelve years old, and her parents are believers of the old ways. Her father belongs to a group of men, known as the Butchers, who travel Ireland for eleven months of the year performing ritual cattle slaughter for farmers that maintain the belief that to do otherwise would bring a curse. Once an important position, in this new Ireland, Úna and her family find themselves outcasts even in their rural town.
The story is told from many perspectives, Úna and her mother, but also the members of the family of her mother's estranged sister who changed her name and left the old ways behind. Now she is married to a retired cattle smuggler who brings herds over the North Ireland border. Set amidst the tail end of the Troubles and the panic surrounding mad cow disease, the livelihoods of the characters are all on the line.
I'm super bummed to say this one didn't really work for me. I've seen this described as a literary thriller and I don't know that I agree with this categorization. Short a few dropped hints and one bizarre climax, the "mystery" is generally absent from the pages. I think the premise of two families from ancient traditions grappling and coping with a changing Ireland is an excellent one, one I would certainly be interested in reading. But with the split purposes—literary and thriller—attempts to make full use of either just ended up falling flat for me. I found myself cringing at the literary flourishes and sighing at the culmination of the thriller plot line.
All this said, I think this was a case of "it's not you it's me," as the other reviews I've seen are overwhelmingly positive. In writing reviews it's never my intention to put someone off reading a book they might love. So, if this sounds up your street I would still consider giving it a go.
Thank you to Tin House for providing this book in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own.
May 10, 2021
When, oh when, oh when will I learn not to read Serious &/Or Very Important Works about Ireland and/or Northern Ireland?
Sigh.
The more I have thought about this book today (after finishing it in one sitting last night), the more annoyed I am for not following my own instincts early in the evening and just putting it down. Something felt really forced/twee about The Butchers and their rituals, etc.
Well, duh. They weren't ever real.
Now, I don't claim to be a scholar of All Folkways Gaelic, but I have studied on them a fair amount over the years given my heritage. And a big part of the reason I picked up this book was because I wanted to fill in a gap in my knowledge. Therefore, I felt quite had by Ruth Gilligan come the morning after when I did a little research. (Which, yes, included reading the interview with her about how it's OK to make up an entire myth. We could debate that until the Mad Cows come home, eh?)
Aside from rolling my eyes a lot about the fiddliness with cutting implements, I also found myself sinking a little into despair at the mean and ugly lives most of our characters lived. Sure and begorrah there were a few sparks of hope here and there, but not enough to make me not want to either drink a lot of rotgut whiskey and/or hang myself with my own hair out of fear of turning into one of them. (And yes, after more than a year of going without a haircut because of the Covid-19 pandemic, my hair is long enough that I could probably pull off that little trick.)
Random Observations:
- Seeing characters named Ronan and Rowan in various books this year. And then there's Ronan Farrow, out there doing The Lord's Work when it comes to investigative journalism. Not sure what it all means, just, well, there it is.
- The starlings? The starlings were in a murmuration again. That's for the fourth or fifth book this year.....
- Are we all about to revert to at least semi-pagan here shortly? Is that what's in the zeitgeist? I mean, it won't be a far path for me to trod, given that I'm a salt-flinger by nature who considers hummingbirds of the fae, and can her ownself see little snatches of the future.
Oh, did you want to know something about the plot, the characters, etc.? Well, catch yourself on, you'll not be finding the like of that here! Except that I will say the language/dialects were realistic.
Sigh.
The more I have thought about this book today (after finishing it in one sitting last night), the more annoyed I am for not following my own instincts early in the evening and just putting it down. Something felt really forced/twee about The Butchers and their rituals, etc.
Well, duh. They weren't ever real.
Now, I don't claim to be a scholar of All Folkways Gaelic, but I have studied on them a fair amount over the years given my heritage. And a big part of the reason I picked up this book was because I wanted to fill in a gap in my knowledge. Therefore, I felt quite had by Ruth Gilligan come the morning after when I did a little research. (Which, yes, included reading the interview with her about how it's OK to make up an entire myth. We could debate that until the Mad Cows come home, eh?)
Aside from rolling my eyes a lot about the fiddliness with cutting implements, I also found myself sinking a little into despair at the mean and ugly lives most of our characters lived. Sure and begorrah there were a few sparks of hope here and there, but not enough to make me not want to either drink a lot of rotgut whiskey and/or hang myself with my own hair out of fear of turning into one of them. (And yes, after more than a year of going without a haircut because of the Covid-19 pandemic, my hair is long enough that I could probably pull off that little trick.)
Random Observations:
- Seeing characters named Ronan and Rowan in various books this year. And then there's Ronan Farrow, out there doing The Lord's Work when it comes to investigative journalism. Not sure what it all means, just, well, there it is.
- The starlings? The starlings were in a murmuration again. That's for the fourth or fifth book this year.....
- Are we all about to revert to at least semi-pagan here shortly? Is that what's in the zeitgeist? I mean, it won't be a far path for me to trod, given that I'm a salt-flinger by nature who considers hummingbirds of the fae, and can her ownself see little snatches of the future.
Oh, did you want to know something about the plot, the characters, etc.? Well, catch yourself on, you'll not be finding the like of that here! Except that I will say the language/dialects were realistic.
May 26, 2020
This was a fairly compelling read, but it didn't quite get there. The characters lacked any real depth and the plot wasn't entirely plausible, but it was a reasonably entertaining and easy read.
January 24, 2021
Would have given this 4 stars, but the ending did not sit well with me. It just felt outlandish and off brand to me. I really enjoyed the whole book so the end was very disappointing to me.
May 15, 2022
This is billed as a thriller. It isn't. It's well-written as far as atmospheric fiction goes. It deals with some dark topics. It isn't a thriller though. I think it moves too slowly for that.
There is also the matter of the competing plot, that while accurate historically, doesn't really help focus the main plot. This could have been drastically cut down and the main plot elaborated on by maybe including an inside-the-group perspective. I think that could have made this book amazing.
I really want to love this book. But it's not what it's trying to be.
There is also the matter of the competing plot, that while accurate historically, doesn't really help focus the main plot. This could have been drastically cut down and the main plot elaborated on by maybe including an inside-the-group perspective. I think that could have made this book amazing.
I really want to love this book. But it's not what it's trying to be.
May 2, 2021
I was immediately invested in all of the characters of this book. Someone read this quick so we can discuss it. I’m still trying to figure out the ending.
April 6, 2020
Ruth Gilligan’s fifth novel, The Butchers, is set in rural Ireland in the summer of 1996, as the BSE crisis kicks off and Irish farmers initially benefit from the collapse in British beef. It moves between four third-person narrators plus a series of interludes set in New York in 2018, where a photographer is about to exhibit a photograph of a dead man that was taken in an Irish slaughterhouse decades before. Grá is the wife of one of the eight Butchers, a group of men who move around the country slaughtering cattle in accordance with their own particular rites. Úna, her twelve-year-old daughter, dreams of becoming a Butcher herself someday, despite the fact that the order is closed to girls. In another county, Fionn, desperate to raise money for experimental cancer treatment for his dying wife, becomes involved in smuggling cows over the Irish border. Meanwhile, his son, Davey, is focusing on his Leaving Cert exams, determined to depart for the bright lights of Dublin, when he falls unexpectedly in love with somebody he’s just met.
I seem to have been looking for a farming novel that uses Celtic folklore this adeptly for some time; I was disappointed by Owen Sheers’ uneven novella White Ravens, which is Welsh rather than Irish, but which echoes The Butchers in its depiction of a woman who watches her brothers get involved in sheep-stealing after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease leads to the shooting of their own flock. However, despite the thematic echoes, the robustness of Gilligan’s prose is closer to writers like Fiona Mozley and Cynan Jones. All four of her narrators are completely convincing, but I was especially captivated by Fionn’s descriptions of swapping tags on cattle and printing new stamps on packets of beef in the depths of night. Gilligan treads a fine line with his characterisation, making him admit to ‘raising a fist’ to his wife and son just once, many years ago, but knowing he can never make things right; giving him a history of alcoholism but showing how religiously he now sticks to pints of coke; making him want to impress his fellow smugglers to demonstrate his masculinity but also emphasising that he is motivated by the thin prospect of saving his wife’s life.
The Butchers, by leaping from protagonist to protagonist, also deliberately elides or skips a number of climatic moments in its plot, such as the peak of a bar brawl or Davey’s first sexual encounter. This vignette-like approach worked for me, twisting this undoubtedly gripping story away from becoming a straightforward thriller and giving the more subtle scenes space to breathe. Gilligan also makes effective use of her setting, skilfully contextualising BSE for readers who are unfamiliar with it, and dropping references to Euro 96 and the Spice Girls while never slipping into gratuitous nostalgia. Having requested this on NetGalley some months ago, and noticing that its publication date was approaching, I started this novel out of a sense of duty; but it’s an unexpected, original and accomplished treat.
I received a free proof copy of this novel from the publisher for review.
I seem to have been looking for a farming novel that uses Celtic folklore this adeptly for some time; I was disappointed by Owen Sheers’ uneven novella White Ravens, which is Welsh rather than Irish, but which echoes The Butchers in its depiction of a woman who watches her brothers get involved in sheep-stealing after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease leads to the shooting of their own flock. However, despite the thematic echoes, the robustness of Gilligan’s prose is closer to writers like Fiona Mozley and Cynan Jones. All four of her narrators are completely convincing, but I was especially captivated by Fionn’s descriptions of swapping tags on cattle and printing new stamps on packets of beef in the depths of night. Gilligan treads a fine line with his characterisation, making him admit to ‘raising a fist’ to his wife and son just once, many years ago, but knowing he can never make things right; giving him a history of alcoholism but showing how religiously he now sticks to pints of coke; making him want to impress his fellow smugglers to demonstrate his masculinity but also emphasising that he is motivated by the thin prospect of saving his wife’s life.
The Butchers, by leaping from protagonist to protagonist, also deliberately elides or skips a number of climatic moments in its plot, such as the peak of a bar brawl or Davey’s first sexual encounter. This vignette-like approach worked for me, twisting this undoubtedly gripping story away from becoming a straightforward thriller and giving the more subtle scenes space to breathe. Gilligan also makes effective use of her setting, skilfully contextualising BSE for readers who are unfamiliar with it, and dropping references to Euro 96 and the Spice Girls while never slipping into gratuitous nostalgia. Having requested this on NetGalley some months ago, and noticing that its publication date was approaching, I started this novel out of a sense of duty; but it’s an unexpected, original and accomplished treat.
I received a free proof copy of this novel from the publisher for review.
May 16, 2021
Review to come.
May 14, 2025
3.5 stars. I really enjoyed a lot of this book focusing on a fictional group of men and their families who are used to illustrate the tension between traditional and modernising Ireland. It’s really easy to forgot how much things have changed in a very short period of time and this, with its incongruous clash of ancient tradition and the Spice Girls and 1990s BSE crisis is a great reminder. I also liked the mythical world that it created - even if the crux of its mythology was imaginary. I’m not sure it all quite came together for me in the end. I felt that I hadn’t had quite enough background or build up for the final denouement but even then it was still thought provoking and in a different way to what I had expected.
Read
January 14, 2022the last two pages holy shit
February 25, 2020
Wow! A fascinating story set in rural Ireland in 1996. I loved the characters of the mother and daughter, Gra and Una, on the cusp of Ireland's modernisation, but still trapped by their old beliefs. Their husband/ father is a member of the Butchers, a group of 8 men that satisfy an old ritual by slaughtering cattle in a particular style, which takes him away from home for most of the year. Both Gra and Una are struggling to come to terms with this, and we find out more about life at school and at home for them. It was very well written and I couldn't put it down. It reflects that changes going on in Ireland at the time, particularly about religion and gender, against the background of the BSE crisis. It was very believable. The only aspect I did not enjoy so much as the flash forwards to 2018, where a photographer who played a part in the events meets Una later. However, these did tie up the plot well.
April 19, 2020
The Butchers is a very clever, gripping read which I think would make a great book club read as there would be lots to discuss.
I think I can safely say that I have never read another book about butchery so I found it very interesting to learn more about it, particularly all the old myths and traditions surrounding it. I’d also never heard of The Irish Mafia before so that was a bit of an eye opener! I’m actually old enough to have lived through the BSE crisis and I remember well the panic over it, especially as everyone went vegetarian for a few months. I knew that it had a huge impact on farmers but had never had the opportunity to hear about the crisis from their point of view before. It was actually quite poignant to see how much it affected them and not just from a monetary point of view.
The author does a great job of setting the scene in this book so that the reader feels transported back to 1996. It was a bit of a trip down memory lane for me at times with all the great pop references and news events that I remember happening. Ireland was going through quite a transitional period at that time and I found it interesting to see the struggle between the traditional views, involving religion and gender, with their attempts of modernisation.
Overall I thought this was a well plotted, atmospheric read which I found very hard to put down. I loved the slow revealing of all the secrets and the twists which took me completely by surprise. The change in point of view helped keep the story fresh and kept my interest as it always revealed something new. My only slight quibble with this book is in not sure I’d class it as historical fiction as I think its too recent. I’ve been wracking my brain to think what I’d call it and I agree with a few other reviewers that I think it’s more of a coming of age story. Either way it’s still an incredibly good read!
Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Atlantic books for my copy of this book.
I think I can safely say that I have never read another book about butchery so I found it very interesting to learn more about it, particularly all the old myths and traditions surrounding it. I’d also never heard of The Irish Mafia before so that was a bit of an eye opener! I’m actually old enough to have lived through the BSE crisis and I remember well the panic over it, especially as everyone went vegetarian for a few months. I knew that it had a huge impact on farmers but had never had the opportunity to hear about the crisis from their point of view before. It was actually quite poignant to see how much it affected them and not just from a monetary point of view.
The author does a great job of setting the scene in this book so that the reader feels transported back to 1996. It was a bit of a trip down memory lane for me at times with all the great pop references and news events that I remember happening. Ireland was going through quite a transitional period at that time and I found it interesting to see the struggle between the traditional views, involving religion and gender, with their attempts of modernisation.
Overall I thought this was a well plotted, atmospheric read which I found very hard to put down. I loved the slow revealing of all the secrets and the twists which took me completely by surprise. The change in point of view helped keep the story fresh and kept my interest as it always revealed something new. My only slight quibble with this book is in not sure I’d class it as historical fiction as I think its too recent. I’ve been wracking my brain to think what I’d call it and I agree with a few other reviewers that I think it’s more of a coming of age story. Either way it’s still an incredibly good read!
Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Atlantic books for my copy of this book.
April 20, 2020
Set in rural Ireland in 1996 you could almost think it was set even earlier, the summer on 1996 brought about the BSE crisis that effected the British meat industry paving the way for the Irish farmers to cash in on it.
I recently have become vegan several months ago, so might be wondering why I would read a book about Butchers... But this book is about so much more than the killing of cattle, it about a group of men who are trying to hold on to the last vestments of a tradition as Ireland is fast becoming more modernised. The story touches on the topics of the parliamentary acts that were passed around this time, the decriminalisation of homosexuality and divorce for example.
The story follows several points of view, from the wife and daughter Gra and Una, of one of the eight men, who are left alone for eleven months of they year, a husband of a sick wife who will do anything to afford her the best care and his son who is on the brink of discovering his sexuality.
It all starts with the photograph of a lifeless body of a man hanging by his feet from a meat hook, and I loved how Ruth Gilligan interweaves the characters to the photo as the story goes on.
All in all this was quite a interesting read and I really enjoyed the coming of age story that centres around Una.
I recently have become vegan several months ago, so might be wondering why I would read a book about Butchers... But this book is about so much more than the killing of cattle, it about a group of men who are trying to hold on to the last vestments of a tradition as Ireland is fast becoming more modernised. The story touches on the topics of the parliamentary acts that were passed around this time, the decriminalisation of homosexuality and divorce for example.
The story follows several points of view, from the wife and daughter Gra and Una, of one of the eight men, who are left alone for eleven months of they year, a husband of a sick wife who will do anything to afford her the best care and his son who is on the brink of discovering his sexuality.
It all starts with the photograph of a lifeless body of a man hanging by his feet from a meat hook, and I loved how Ruth Gilligan interweaves the characters to the photo as the story goes on.
All in all this was quite a interesting read and I really enjoyed the coming of age story that centres around Una.
December 26, 2020
I was pretty into the book for about a hundred pages and then I grew terribly bored. I guess stories involving fake Irish folklore, mad cow disease, and organized meat crimes are just not for me. Nice writing though
September 13, 2022
Really didn’t grip me. Felt nothing for any of the characters, loads of plot points that just didn’t really make sense, and the ending felt pretty disappointing.
February 7, 2022
This is a multi-genre, no holds barred, in your face, gripping novel about rural Ireland during the Mad-Cow scare of 1996. It centers on two families, one “regular” Catholic, the other dedicated to an ancient (but fictional) cattle rite that requires 8 men traveling and butchering cattle, thus ensuring tradition be honored and the meat be safe to eat. The families do not meet although the wives in the two families are sisters; one stayed home and honored the ritual, the other ran away and married “out” to a Catholic.
The book deals with the coming of age of only children in the two families, the pains of puberty, the maturation of adults, Irish traditions and the agony of a nation caught between history and modernization, corruption in the highest places (remember the Guerin murder?), and reaction to a mysterious and fatal disease potentially affecting everyone, just as the corruption does.
On an incomplete forensic note, due to my anal-retentive nature, I question whether the butcher could have been hung from a hook in his feet, unless the hook was pushed in through the calcaneus (heel bone) as in the case of Jehohanan (see Wikipedia entry). In analyzing the Shroud of Turin, I remember that an Italian priest experimented with a cadaver nailed to a cross through his hands. The cadaver slipped off the cross because the hand was insufficiently strong to carry the full weight of the body. Surely the foot structure would be not sufficient to carry the weight of the butcher. A hook through his ankle or lower leg would have been sufficient. My Shroud of Turin books are all in storage so I cannot offer more information – my embarrassment.
That picky point aside, the book is a delight to read as it was written in colloquial Irish-English, with classic Irish wit and sense of irony. Will you be able to put the book down once into the meat of it? My money is on the negative. This was a best-seller for a very good reason – it is a book you will not forget.
The book deals with the coming of age of only children in the two families, the pains of puberty, the maturation of adults, Irish traditions and the agony of a nation caught between history and modernization, corruption in the highest places (remember the Guerin murder?), and reaction to a mysterious and fatal disease potentially affecting everyone, just as the corruption does.
On an incomplete forensic note, due to my anal-retentive nature, I question whether the butcher could have been hung from a hook in his feet, unless the hook was pushed in through the calcaneus (heel bone) as in the case of Jehohanan (see Wikipedia entry). In analyzing the Shroud of Turin, I remember that an Italian priest experimented with a cadaver nailed to a cross through his hands. The cadaver slipped off the cross because the hand was insufficiently strong to carry the full weight of the body. Surely the foot structure would be not sufficient to carry the weight of the butcher. A hook through his ankle or lower leg would have been sufficient. My Shroud of Turin books are all in storage so I cannot offer more information – my embarrassment.
That picky point aside, the book is a delight to read as it was written in colloquial Irish-English, with classic Irish wit and sense of irony. Will you be able to put the book down once into the meat of it? My money is on the negative. This was a best-seller for a very good reason – it is a book you will not forget.
July 18, 2021
The theme here is the transition between old and new, tradition and modernity, but it touches on so many others. Set in 1996 during the Mad Cow Disease outbreak in UK and Ireland, the plot is centered on a 8 men who travel Ireland to butcher cattle according to the [fictional] tradition of the Curse of the Farmer's Widow. These men leave their families behind for 11 months of the year to follow the tradition, and the families and the Butchers both are ostracized by the more modern (though of course just as immersed in pagan tradition) Catholic Irish. As are the believers who still have them come slaughter their cattle. There's cattle smuggling, guilt, shame, homophobia and misogyny, alcohol, and of course the approaching end of the Troubles. And a big twist at the end. Excellent writing. I loved the duality of two sisters, one who chose the modern life and one who stayed in the traditional one and what the implications were for them and their children.
Published as The Butchers' Blessing in the US.
The closest read-alike I can come up with is The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver which also had alternating viewpoints and gave perspective on systemic and cultural problems through the eyes of a family. If you liked The Poisonwood Bible, give this a try. If you hated it, still give this a try.
CW animal slaughter (cow, mouse), murder, attempted sexual assault, spousal abuse (past).
Published as The Butchers' Blessing in the US.
The closest read-alike I can come up with is The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver which also had alternating viewpoints and gave perspective on systemic and cultural problems through the eyes of a family. If you liked The Poisonwood Bible, give this a try. If you hated it, still give this a try.
CW animal slaughter (cow, mouse), murder, attempted sexual assault, spousal abuse (past).
October 31, 2020
I liked the old Ireland existing alongside the modern. Worth a read
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